Talk Business With Howardhttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com
Howard Lewinter|Business Problem Solver to CEOs, Presidents and Business OwnersFri, 20 Feb 2015 03:02:52 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1CEOs And Business Owners: For Business Success, Plug The Holes!http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/ceos-business-owners-business-success-plug-holes/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/ceos-business-owners-business-success-plug-holes/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 02:56:02 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6092Do you remember the story (that was actually a fable) of the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dyke where it was leaking and saved the country of Holland from disaster? If the boy hadn’t put his finger in the dyke the water would have continued to flow. The hole would have continued […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>Do you remember the story (that was actually a fable) of the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dyke where it was leaking and saved the country of Holland from disaster? If the boy hadn’t put his finger in the dyke the water would have continued to flow. The hole would have continued to get bigger and bigger till the dyke would have collapsed. That one tiny finger on that brave little boy saved everything.

If you follow pro football then you know that in the front line, the linemen are really important as they protect the critical position of the team’s quarterback. The last thing any team wants is to have the quarterback get injured. So if there is a position in the front line that’s not working the team needs to plug the hole to make sure the quarterback is protected.

For businesssuccess on a consistent basis, you need to plug the holes!

You need to say to yourself:

Where are the holes?

In the overall business?

In my position of leadership within the company?

What’s not working?

What needs to change?

What, if not given the necessary attention, will only get to be a bigger and bigger issue till it becomes a huge problem to deal with?

What issues, if addressed now rather than later, can be easily managed and make the company a better place to work at or to buy from?

As the CEO, president, founder or business owner of the company ask additional questions, such as:

Does the company have the right marketing message?

Has the company website been updated lately? Is it mobile friendly?

Does the company have the right employees in the right positions?

Is customer service the very best it can be?

If you don’t identify and plug the holes any one of these holes – or others- can keep you and the business in a position of failing – which is exactly what you don’t want to do. This requires a lot of objectivity and time to really think things through. Don’t do anything in a hasty manner. You want to be pro-active not reactive.

Every day you work at improving the things that are working. Now you need to work at improving upon the things that aren’t working.

So let’s get things done. If it’s working: great! Let’s make it happen.

If it’s not working, why isn’t it working? What needs done to get it humming along like other things are in the business?

Remember: Every single thing you do during your business day is important to your success and the company’s success. If something isn’t right, and you know it isn’t right, let’s take care of it and make it right.

Every day to maximize business success ask: Where are the holes that need to be plugged?

Keep a list. Not just in your head but write it down so you can easily refer to it and check off the items as the holes get plugged. You’ll have a sense of accomplishment and a better run business.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/ceos-business-owners-business-success-plug-holes/feed/0Is A Positive Attitude Always Best For Business Success?http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/positive-attitude-always-best-business-success/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/positive-attitude-always-best-business-success/#commentsMon, 09 Feb 2015 00:37:17 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6087It’s already well into the second month of 2015. 2015 is flying by fast! Now what? Ask yourself this question: What do you want out of this year? Yes, from a personal viewpoint. But more importantly, from a business perspective. No matter what you may list as your answers I am certain you want: […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>It’s already well into the second month of 2015.

2015 is flying by fast!

Now what?

Ask yourself this question: What do you want out of this year?

Yes, from a personal viewpoint. But more importantly, from a business perspective.

No matter what you may list as your answers I am certain you want:

1) Your company to be profitable so you can make more money

2) To be successful at what you do

3) To stand out from everyone else in order to achieve the other two.

Have you ever noticed how most people, including CEOs, presidents and business owners, often just follow the herd?

They do what other people do. If it’s the latest mobile phone, they have to have it. If it’s the latest fashion, they have to have it. If a movie is receiving a lot of buzz, they have to see it. People want to follow what everyone else is doing. Yet to attain your business goals means standing out from the herd.

On your LinkedIn profile, you may follow successful business people that are considered influencers. Some of these people would be considered geniuses at what they do and have achieved such as Richard Branson, Jeff Weiner, Tony Hsieh, Bill Gates, to name a few.

Whether it’s an influencer you follow on LinkedIn or someone in your neighborhood that you know has reached the heights of success, what you’re going to find is that they don’t follow what is referred to as “conventional wisdom”. They don’t follow the herd. They’re business rebels with a vision to make the world a better place. In order to do that, they have to do it their way.

Success means having a positive mental attitude. Right? That’s what we often hear – in order to achieve your goals you have to have a positive mental attitude.

But is a positive mental attitude always what’s best for business success?

Napoleon Hill’s classic book, Think and Grow Rich, or anything by Dale Carnegie, for example, have continued to be business resources for decades. What they write about is absolutely correct. You do have to have a positive mental attitude. BUT you also have to have the other side of it.

Here’s why…

If you only have a positive mental attitude and you only see everything as just great chances are you’re not going to be as successful as you would like in business. You need to look at the other side of whatever it may be. You need to take the negative and take a more positive approach with it.

When you go to work each morning, take a moment to pause before you reach the door.

Ask yourself:

How do I feel about being here today?

What’s on the agenda today?

What’s working well?

What’s not working not so well?

What do I need to update or change?

What do I need to pay attention to?

If you’re not paying attention to the negative, as well as the positive, you won’t be as successful as you would like.

Remember: It’s the negative that will jump right up and bite you.

When it does bite, it’s guaranteed to hurt!

Business success is about how you think about your work, your company and what goes on around you every day.

Business is about so many things you need to pay attention to every day – and that’s really the secret, isn’t it? Paying attention to what’s going on; paying attention to what’s not working. Paying attention to what’s going on inside of yourself – because business is about you and the people you interact with or influence.

So you may think you’re superhuman. Put in long hours at work. Dedicate yourself to what you do. But it’s difficult to always be aware of yourself.

It may sound negative but have you slipped up a bit in some way?

How much rest do you get?

What are you eating or drinking throughout the day?

Who do you allow to influence you?

You need to take both parts of the equation, the positive and the negative. Put them together and work towards the best business year ever in whatever you do.

Be unconventional. Don’t always follow the herd.

Do what the great entrepreneurs in business have done: Create your own path and follow it.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/positive-attitude-always-best-business-success/feed/0Look In The Mirror At Your 2014 Business For Success In 2015http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/look-mirror-2014-business-success-2015/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/look-mirror-2014-business-success-2015/#commentsSat, 20 Dec 2014 00:25:21 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6079The month of December marks the fourth anniversary of the Talk Business With Howard radio show (broadcast Monday – Friday) on Blog Talk Radio. The radio show has evolved over the years to its present format, The 5 Minute Business Strategy, with business advice, insight and perspective to improve and grow your business for more […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>The month of December marks the fourth anniversary of the Talk Business With Howardradio show (broadcast Monday – Friday) on Blog Talk Radio. The radio show has evolved over the years to its present format, The 5 Minute Business Strategy, with business advice, insight and perspective to improve and grow your business for more business success, greater profit and less business stress.

As the final business days of 2014 bring the year to a close, let’s talk about your business, not for 2015, but for what happened in 2014 while there’s still time.

Here are 5 points you, as the CEO, president or business owner, need to do or think about for business success before the start of 2015:

1) Contact your company’s accountant or CPA. The year isn’t over… yet. Take a few minutes and talk about how you can still make this the best financial year possible. For example:

review business taxes

review profit and loss statements for the year

review how you could have been smarter with your business finances

2) In order to be more successful and more profitable in 2015, you need to thoroughly look at the 2014 business year. Look at:

The past: What needs to change? Learn from your business mistakes. Ask: What could have been done better?

The present: What is the company doing well? What does the company need to do more of?

The future: What are your company’s future plans? How are you going to get there?

3) Take the time to pause, honestly reflect and look into the mirror of your business. What do you see?

Where was the…

Progress

Where was the…

Change

What situations put your company on top?

What situations didn’t your company handle so well?

Be openly critical of the 2014 business year so you can have a GREAT 2015.

Business isn’t static. Business isn’t a level plane or playing field. Business is always about doing your best and doing more, more, more…

If you don’t take the time to reflect on your business in 2014 then how will you be successful in 2015? You can’t keep doing the same things over and over and over, again and again and again.

Remember: The competition is always breathing down your neck. The best gift you can give the competition is your business – and I am certain that you don’t want to do that.

4) That’s why you need reach out to:

Your customers at this time of year and let them know how much you appreciate their business. Pick up the phone and call your customers. Ask what more you can do for them.

Do the same with your employees. Let them know how much you appreciate their efforts. Ask them for ideas on how to make the work experience and the company better.

Don’t forget your vendors and other service providers who help make you the success you are. How can you better your relationships with them?

When you honestly and openly reflect on what is the mirror of your business it will show you the good, the bad and the ugly. It will also show you how to close out 2014 and be off to a successful start in 2015. Then let the business momentum build throughout the year.

5) When you walk in the door of your office every morning, ask yourself:

What’s not right in my business that needs resolved?

What will it take to make the business better?

What do I need to do right now?

How can I help every employee to succeed?

2015 gives you the opportunity to have the best business year ever. But your business success begins today in 2014. Don’t wait a moment longer to attain the success you and your company deserve. It’s waiting for you to make it happen!

For more business advice and tips, take 5 minutes and listen to the entire broadcast that inspired this blog post. The radio show is entitled: Let’s Talk About 2014 And Your Business. Let’s make 2015 the best business year ever! I look forward to talking business with you in 2015!

Check Out Business Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Howard Lewinter on BlogTalkRadio

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/look-mirror-2014-business-success-2015/feed/0For Business Success: Work Backwardshttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-work-backwards/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-work-backwards/#commentsMon, 22 Sep 2014 13:10:11 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6071You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘play it forward’ or ‘pay it forward’. In fact, there was a popular movie a number of years ago entitled, Pay It Forward, that perhaps you’ve seen. The concept is that when something good or nice happens to you, you then do similar and do something good or nice for […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘play it forward’ or ‘pay it forward’. In fact, there was a popular movie a number of years ago entitled, Pay It Forward, that perhaps you’ve seen. The concept is that when something good or nice happens to you, you then do similar and do something good or nice for someone else. Then that individual does something nice for another individual and the concept goes, hopefully, on and on with the goal of making this world a better place to live and work in.

The concept is certainly a wonderful, timeless idea that we definitely need in our world today, both locally and globally. It’s not just about doing one good thing for one person. It’s about doing good and being nice to everyone you meet in your day, including during business hours. It’s certainly a positive approach to living life and doing business.

For example, in business: Be polite and respectfulto everyone you encounter in your business day – even if you are not going to do business with them. Answer questions and share information with people you may never see or talk to again. Listen to what they have to say. Be considerate of others always. It sounds like a good common sense approach to take but it’s actually something that will make you stand out in our time crunched with too many things to do business days.

Remember: everyone and everything has value in some way.

But there’s another concept to consider incorporating into your business days.

In addition to ‘playing or paying it forward’, let’s also ‘play it backwards’ to improve opportunities for success.

You read correctly…

For business success: Work backwards!

Here’s why you need to work backwards: To be successful in business, it’s necessary to have a business plan. CEOs, presidents, founders, business owners and entrepreneurs need business plans to effectively run companies; department heads need business plans to meet company objectives; and regardless of a person’s title within a company, you need a business plan to accomplish individual contributions to a company’s success. But how do you meet your goals? Work backwards!

Here’s how:

Ask yourself…

1) What’s the ultimate result you want to achieve?

2) Where do you want to go with your goal? For example: Let’s say you are a CEO, president, founder or business owner and your goal is to do at least a million dollars a year in annual revenue. Or maybe you’d like to personally earn a million dollars a year! How do you get to a million dollars? Work backwards. Start at a million dollars. Then ask:

To do a million dollars in sales volume what would you have to do?

What’s the average sale?

Then divide a million dollars by how many sales.

How many prospects would it take to get the number of customers or clients?

How many appointments would it take to get the number of prospects?

What’s the closing ratio to get the desired number of sales to reach the million dollar mark?

What’s the timetable to reach a million dollars?

Is there enough support staff to reach a million dollars?

What additional costs will be incurred to reach a million dollars?

Is the office location right?

Is it realistic? Or do goals need to be adjusted? If so, work backwards again till you reach attainable numbers. By working backwards you will know if and how you can reach your business goals. There’s nothing illusionary about working backwards. Sometimes business people when writing out a plan create an illusion that’s just not possible to attain. They don’t really think about how it’s possible or what they really need to do to reach a particular goal. You can’t just say: I want to do a million dollars!

By working backwards you may find the goal to be too disruptive to you and your business. Or maybe that it’s just not possible at this time. Re-evaluate and reset the goal. Work backwards again till you find a workable, realistic goal. When you do, then you can consider stretching the goal just a bit for added incentive to make it all happen.

By working backwards with your business goals and business plans you’ll have a more precise, detailed understanding of what you really need to do. You can do this with almost any business issue.

By working backwards you’ll have a better understanding of your business and your goals. When you reach your goals, you’ll be more successful, more profitable, less stressed – and able to ‘play or pay it forward’ by doing great things!

This post was also published on the Linked Into Business blog. You can view the post here.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-work-backwards/feed/03 Questions CEOs And Business Owners Need To Ask Every Dayhttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/3-questions-ceos-business-owners-need-ask-every-day/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/3-questions-ceos-business-owners-need-ask-every-day/#commentsThu, 24 Jul 2014 13:41:31 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6053If you are a fan of professional football and you watch the game on television, you’ve probably seen this: The player scores a touchdown in the end zone and starts dancing all around. The player starts showing off as if he’s never made a touchdown before and lets the emotion of the event go to […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>If you are a fan of professional football and you watch the game on television, you’ve probably seen this: The player scores a touchdown in the end zone and starts dancing all around. The player starts showing off as if he’s never made a touchdown before and lets the emotion of the event go to his head. Instead of acting like scoring touchdowns is just what he and his team does, he acts like it’s an extraordinary event instead of it being just another day of playing great football.

The same is true in business, isn’t it? To win the game of business every day requires focus and determination. It’s not just closing one sale or having one great day. It’s about planning your strategy to stay ahead of the competition.

What will it take to win every single business day?

Answer: Have a daily business plan.

Spend time each business day reflecting, planning and strategizing regarding your daily goals for continued business success.

There are 3 business questions you, as a CEO, president or business owner, need to ask yourself every day – at least once a day. These 3 questions can be applied to many business situations you encounter such as hiring a new employee, making a presentation to a prospect, adding a new product or service, making a major business decision or writing your daily or annual business plan.

The 3 questions to ask yourself every business day are:

1) What do you expect? – Another way to phrase the question would be: What are you looking for? If you don’t know where you are going, how can you get there? If you haven’t thought through your expectations of what you need to do and what the end results will be, you’re just winging it. When you wing it, many times you don’t get the desired response. In today’s competitive marketplace, winging it often just isn’t going to cut it for sustained business success. For example: If you’re hiring an employee, what characteristics are you looking for? If you’re selling, who’s the potential customer? It could be any business subject. What do you expect to get out of this particular situation? Always know your expectations. When you know what the expectations are, you’ll be well on your way to getting what you want because you have an understanding of what you’re looking for.

2) What do you need (to get the desired results)? - This is different than what you expect. Here’s why: What you expect is about hopes and wishes. What you need is the reality of it all. Many business people scoff at making a business plan. They think it is a waste of time. But quite the contrary. If you don’t have a plan you waste more time because you have no true direction or sense of purpose.

Remember these words which you may have learned in school during English class: Who, what, where, when and why. No matter what the business circumstance is you need to constantly be asking questions starting with these words. Then ask one more question beginning with the word, how: How much is it going to cost? When writing your plan if you ask questions starting with: who, what, where, when, why and how much is it going to cost – and can clearly answer those questions you have the beginnings of a good plan in place.

Also, think about this: What is the return on investment (ROI)?

For example:

What do you need a recently hired salesperson in your company to do? What do you need a new product or service to do? Maybe you’d like to rent new office space. You may expect to be successful enough to rent the space but why do you really need the space? How functional will it be? How much more business do you need to do in order to furnish and rent the space? How much is renting the space going to cost? How much additional business will you have to do to make this work?

By asking questions throughout your day starting with: who, what, where, when, why and how much will it cost, you’ll have the foundation to make sound business decisions as you go about your day – and getting the results you desire for your company.

3) What aren’t you getting? - This is the question business people so often don’t ask, yet is vitally important to your success and the success of your company. It’s not meant to be viewed as a negative question.

If you know what your expectations are, if you know what your needs are and you have thoroughly worked through the previous two questions listed here in this article then you can look at the situation and ask: What am I not getting?

For example: You went ahead and hired a new salesperson. Now ask: What is the new hire not doing in their prospecting and sales presentations to close more deals each month? Or: The new product is now featured on the company website but it’s not bringing in the sales originally forecasted. What changes need to be made in the marketing campaign? Or maybe you moved into the new office space and now you’re asking yourself how you can better utilize the space.

Every day for business success, CEOs, presidents and business owners throughout the day need to continue to ask these three questions.

If you do, and the more often you ask these 3 questions, the more opportunity there will be for business success.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/3-questions-ceos-business-owners-need-ask-every-day/feed/0How To Achieve Business Success In The Second Half Of 2014http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/success-business-second-half-2014/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/success-business-second-half-2014/#commentsThu, 03 Jul 2014 22:11:03 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6039Are you a Star Trek fan? If we counted all the Star Trek fans… If I said: Hey! All you Star Trek fans out there, put your hands high up in the air so I can see you! The counts would be just incredible. It would take forever to count all the Star […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>Are you a Star Trek fan?

If we counted all the Star Trek fans… If I said: Hey! All you Star Trek fans out there, put your hands high up in the air so I can see you! The counts would be just incredible.

It would take forever to count all the Star Trek fans because the show, starting with the original series on through to the most recent plus all the feature length movies, is such a worldwide phenomenon!

I remember when it all started for Star Trek back in the 1960s. Do you? It wasn’t a big hit when the series first started to air on television. It was filmed at Desilu Studios, then owned by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. At some point, Lucy took over the studio as she had bought out Desi’s interest in the studio. The executive studio suits wanted to cancel Star Trek. But Lucy, being the smart, savvy businesswoman she was in that era, dug her heels in, so to speak, and said (I paraphrase): It’s my studio. Don’t cancel it. And the rest is history. Desilu Studios was eventually bought by Paramount and has been an incredible cash cow for them ever since all the way up to the present with the blockbuster films and series in continual reruns. Plus the merchandising of Star Trek has brought in significant additional revenues.

In Star Trek, The New Generation, series there’s a scene where Will Riker walks in and Mr. Data is sitting there in front of a tea kettle watching it boil. Mr. Data says to Will Riker (again paraphrasing): People say that a watched pot never boils but I’ve sat here and I’ve timed this pot over and over and over again (remember: Mr. Data is an Android) and it always boils at the same time. In response, Will smiles and says: Well, why don’t you turn off your internal chronometer, your internal time piece? Mr. Data looks at Will and simply says: Oh.

The point is that time is time is time. But yet our perception of time can be different. Someone once told me that when you’re six years old, for example, it’s approximately one sixth of your life. When you are 60 years old, it’s one sixtieth of your life so it seems to go much faster. Today with all the technology available to us it makes life appear to go ever faster than in years past.

So how do we relate all this to business?

The first half of 2014 is over. Can you believe it? The time has certainly flown by. Has it for you?

The question you need to ask yourself is:

– How do you plan to achieve business success in the second half of 2014?

– What are you going to do to ensure your business success and your company’s success?

Before you know it, the second half of the year will go by and it’ll be January 2015.

We’re not Mr. Data. We’re not Androids. We don’t have Mr. Data’s internal time piece. It’s vital to understand how important every single business day is. Six months of our lives are gone. Can’t get them back.

That’s why you need to look at your business plan and what’s planned for the remainder of the year. Take a look at your profit and loss statement for the year thus far.

Where are you today versus six months ago – where would you like to be in the next six months?

Is the company reaching its goals?

Are you reaching your individual goals?

Is the company making a profit?

When was the last time you gave your employees – or yourself a raise? What’s forecast for the second half of the year?

What’s the likelihood you’re going to reach your 2014 goals for the company come December?

Will you exceed your goals?

If you don’t know what it’ll take to have a successful business year, then you may look at your year end financial statement and say: How did this happen?! Didn’t make any money! Now what?!

The time is now to dig in, to reevaluate, to know what you and your company needs to do over the next six months because before you know it, the next six months are going to fly by.

Do you have an updated prospecting and sales plan?

Do you have updated marketing materials – including your website, is it mobile ready?

Do you upsell to your current customers?

What’s new at your company? Product? Service?

How are your prices? Do you need a price increase?

Have profit margins gone down?

There are so many things that you as a CEO, president or business owner must think about. But unless you sit down at your desk and think about them, six months is going to go by and what’s going to happen is you are going to be surprised at the end of the year – and it’s not the kind of surprise you are going to like.

Now is the time for all CEOs, presidents and business owners of companies large, mid-size and small to re-evaluate exactly what is and isn’t going on in their companies so when the New Year rolls around there can be celebration and cheers of: What a year!

In sales, when a salesperson sells something the first thing said is: That’s great! You did a great job! What a great sales presentation and close! Then… Now go get another great sale!

The glory of the sale lasts but a moment or a day, at best. Then it’s onto the next sale.

Same with business profits. Did you make a profit today – or not?

Every single business week, ask yourself: What was it like?

Every single month stands on its own as well.

Then before you know it, it’s the end of the year.

Let’s make sure that in the next week some time is put aside for business planning regarding the next six months.

This Friday is July 4th. It’s easy to get off track with a holiday during the business week.

Remember the freedom you enjoy as an entrepreneur and as the leader of your company.

Here’s to your entrepreneurial independence, strategic business planning along with more success and greater profits in the second half of 2014 – which will set the stage for a successful 2015.

Remember: Business success begins with you. And as they say on Star Trek: Live long and prosper!

If you’re a CEO, president, founder or business owner here in the United States and you’d like to talk about the next six months in your business; how you can lead your company to more success and greater profit. Let’s toss around a few ideas you can begin to immediately implement and start seeing results with. Just call Howard at 888-738-1855.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/success-business-second-half-2014/feed/0Is Vision Necessary For Business Success?http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business-management/vision-necessary-business-success/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business-management/vision-necessary-business-success/#commentsWed, 25 Jun 2014 00:00:21 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6030Since the beginning of time people essentially haven’t changed. There is new technology. But the wants and the needs of people haven’t changed since the beginning of time. It’s an age old question: Why some people succeed and other people don’t. In business, there are three types of entrepreneurs: 1) Those in business who fail […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>Since the beginning of time people essentially haven’t changed. There is new technology. But the wants and the needs of people haven’t changed since the beginning of time. It’s an age old question: Why some people succeed and other people don’t.

In business, there are three types of entrepreneurs:

1) Those in business who fail

2) Those in business who just making a living

3) Those in business who really succeed and run a very profitable company.

There are many factors to business success. Having a clear vision is one of the most important. Being able to see what most others can’t see. Being able to see the future. Being bold enough to move forward when others, including the competition, are not.

So let’s briefly review the three types of entrepreneurs:

1) Those who often fail at running a business just show up for work every day. Although they’re in business, they’re just doing a job. Nothing more.

2) Those who make a living from running a business are the business people that just keep it going; never giving a thought to what’s next. But for them, that’s okay, and they are content to get by like this.

3) Those who are really successful in running a business have vision. They can see things that other people can’t see. They have the ability to do what’s right for their business even if it’s against conventional wisdom.

Vision is something that people just naturally have. But it can also be developed. How? By clearing your mind, focusing and always asking yourself: What’s next? It’s never being fully satisfied with your achievements in business. Knowing there is always something more out there to explore, initiate and be ahead of the pack when it comes to business success and beating the competition.

Do you consider yourself to be a visionary CEO, president, founder or business owner?

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business-management/vision-necessary-business-success/feed/0Disagreement? Here’s 2 Important Steps To Follow For Effective Business Communicationhttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/disagreement-heres-2-important-steps-follow-effective-business-communication/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/disagreement-heres-2-important-steps-follow-effective-business-communication/#commentsThu, 05 Jun 2014 19:39:24 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6023What business are you in? Sounds like a simple question, doesn’t it? With an obvious, easy answer, right? The answer is actually universal and applies to everyone in business. You are in the people business. Why is that the answer? Because everything you do in business is about people. What you sell are relationships that […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>What business are you in?

Sounds like a simple question, doesn’t it? With an obvious, easy answer, right?

The answer is actually universal and applies to everyone in business.

You are in the people business.

Why is that the answer?

Because everything you do in business is about people.

What you sell are relationships that happen to be connected to the product or service your company offers. Once you understand this concept, you will understand the premise of a successful business.

Because you are in the business of people, effective communication becomes vitally important. Yet communication with other people you meet in your business day is one of the most difficult things we all do as humans. That’s why there are so many disputes in business on both the co-worker and customer level. When people don’t clearly communicate what their needs are and they aren’t willing to compromise, it only creates frustration, delay, disruption and confusion. Which then lessens the productivity of your business day.

This reminds me of when I was 26 years old. A manufacturing company recognized potential in my business management abilities and wanted me to relocate to Cleveland to take over one of their divisions. The owner invited me out to dinner. During the dinner I made a fatal communication mistake. All I did was talk. All I did was tell the owner how wonderful I was. I didn’t listen. I kept talking. In turn, he gave me a most valuable business lesson. He said: You know, you’re not listening to me. When we agree, there is really nothing to listen to because we agree. The times you want to listen are when we disagree. That’s when it’s time to pay attention because if you understand the disagreement you can solve it.

Again, being young and foolish, I didn’t get the message. Nor did I get the job. All because I didn’t listen. I didn’t pay attention to what was really being said. I didn’t find common ground with the owner of the business. Lesson learned. And it has served me well over the years in business; as well as in life.

When there is a disagreement, here are the 2 important steps to follow for effective business communications:

1) Pay attention and LISTEN.

The most important time to pay attention is when someone is disagreeing with you. Don’t just listen with your ears. Listen by giving the other person your complete attention. Be present with the other person so you can fully hear them. If you don’t you won’t solve whatever needs solved. Most people today, with all the multi-tasking, constant distractions and too much on the daily to-do list, don’t take the time to fully listen to each other. Instead, they continue to press or sell their point-of-view without fully understanding the other person’s point-of-view.

When you talk with others, make sure they understand what you are saying. Ask them to summarize what is being said at appropriate points in the conversation to avoid further issues in the disagreement. This gives you the opportunity to clarify what was said quickly in order to make progress in resolving differences.

2) Find common ground.

Finding common ground means: What can you agree upon? There is always something that you can agree upon with the other individual(s) involved. If you can establish common ground, if you get agreement on those core common ground points, then you can start to discuss the more challenging issues.

You start by looking at the disagreement from their point-of-view. Ask yourself:

– What is their point-of-view?

- What are they really saying?

- Should I reconsider what I’m thinking?

- Or reconsider what I’m doing?

- Should I reconsider how I’m interacting with them?

- How I’m overall thinking?

- Do I need to change my thinking on this in any way?

By doing so, you can arrive at some level of compromise. No one person should “win” in the conversation. Everyone should be able to share their thoughts. Everyone involved should get something out of the conversation. Everyone should agree at some level. In addition, everyone should feel like they won and didn’t have to give everything up when expressing their point-of-view. Everyone should walk away satisfied with the outcome of the discussion rather than the having the disagreement continue on till it becomes blown out of proportion. Which only disintegrates the importance of the business relationship.

If you don’t listen… if you’re not paying attention… if you don’t find common ground…

Then you’re going to have more problems than you would like in your business day. You will never reach the point of knowing everything. Every day is a learning experience and an opportunity to understand the business you’re in more than the day previous.

Starting today, make it a priority to really listen to the people you encounter in your business day. If you do, you will find that listening goes a long way towards being successful every business day. It will make the world a better place to work in.

Remember: you are in the people business.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/disagreement-heres-2-important-steps-follow-effective-business-communication/feed/0For Business Success: Find The Joy In Your Business Dayhttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-find-joy-business-day/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-find-joy-business-day/#commentsTue, 13 May 2014 01:54:11 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6017Do you often find yourself upset and stressed about your business day? Image this: You walk into the work day with a great cup of coffee or tea in your hand ready to take on whatever comes your way. You’ve got great plans to accomplish many things today. And then for whatever reasons the day […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>Do you often find yourself upset and stressed about your business day?

Image this: You walk into the work day with a great cup of coffee or tea in your hand ready to take on whatever comes your way. You’ve got great plans to accomplish many things today. And then for whatever reasons the day begins to unravel and takes on a different flow than you had planned – which brings upset and stress.

Pause and think for a moment:

Do you remember when you were just starting with your business?

Do you remember how excited you were?

Do you remember how you were going to take on the world and make a difference?

Nothing was going to stop you from success.

What happened?

How did the upset, stress and overwhelm creep into your business days?

The challenge is to keep the upset, stress and the feeling of overwhelm from ever getting a foothold in your business day and instead:

Find the joy in your business day.

Remember, you have the ability to control your life – and how your business day goes. It’s a matter of how you respond to whatever comes your way every moment of the day.

You can respond in a positive way or a negative way.

You can respond by taking the next step or you can respond with a bad attitude. It’s a matter of what you want to create for yourself and those you work with.

When you respond with a positive, next step approach, you will begin to bring back the joy in your business day!

To bring back – and keep – the joy in your business day, you must be consistent with your mindset. You’ve got to get out there every single business day and make it happen!

When you do you’ll feel the joy of:

– making a sale or signing a new customer

– helping out your co-workers or employees

– serving your customers

– solving daily problems that come up

You’ll do it all with a smile and lots of enthusiasm just like when your business was a startup.

When you work from a place of joy every business day, what else happens? Not only will you feel good, accomplish much and be successful with your goals; but your smile and enthusiasm will ripple through the work environment to everyone else.

Not only does it ripple through where you work but through the people that you sell to, through your vendors, who you talk to at the bank, where you go to pick up your lunch, the grocery store on your way home from work or with anyone, anywhere you may be!

Everyone will want to talk with you AND do business with you because of the positive energy that constantly flows from you.

Why?

Because you’re getting joy out of your work and out of your business day. Not: Oh, man. You know…it’s so tough out there I just can’t believe it. You know, I just don’t know what I’m going to do… Would you want to spend your business day with someone like that? Of course not!

So let’s get back to the fun of business.

Let’s take those problems we have head on. Let’s make it happen. Let’s not let the world around us get us down.

As quoted from the movie, Galaxy Quest: Never give up, never surrender!

Every day stands on its own. Every day you can make it better. But you can only do that with the right attitude.

Exude confidence! Then others will be confident too!

Where to start?

All you have to do is remember where you came from and understand where you want to go, and you will make it happen.

Share how you consistently find joy in your business day – and how it helps you to be more successful with leading and running your company.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/business-success-find-joy-business-day/feed/04 Examples To Inspire Your Business Successhttp://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/4-examples-inspire-business-success/
http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/business/4-examples-inspire-business-success/#commentsThu, 20 Feb 2014 20:14:35 +0000http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/?p=6011As you look over the horizon to the year ahead is more success in your business future? Let’s talk about achieving success beyond what you may think is possible. Here’s 4 examples to inspire your business success: 1) Roger Bannister: Have you ever heard of a guy named Roger Bannister? Most people haven’t […]
Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
]]>As you look over the horizon to the year ahead is more success in your business future?

Let’s talk about achieving success beyond what you may think is possible.

Here’s 4 examples to inspire your business success:

1)Roger Bannister: Have you ever heard of a guy named Roger Bannister? Most people haven’t because it seems that events happen but they get lost in history as time goes on. Roger Bannister was a track and field person who ran the mile. Back then people would say: You can’t run a mile in 4 minutes, it’s impossible. It just can’t happen. The human body, the way it’s constructed, you can’t run a 4-minute mile. Then one day Roger Bannister ran a mile in a little under 4 minutes. It was revolutionary; nobody thought it could ever happen. Today it’s commonplace. In modern day track and field events, if the athletes can’t run a mile under 4 minutes they’re likely to not win the event.

2)Chuck Yeager: Then there’s another guy named Chuck Yeager. Chuck Yeager was a pilot in the Air Force, a Korean War hero. One of the things that made Chuck an Ace, which means he shot down so many enemy planes in the Korean War, was his vision – he had more than 20/20 vision. So he could, in the days before the military had the modern day radar technology, see things many miles away – including his opponent further out than anybody else. That gave him the advantage. When Chuck Yeager was chosen to be a test pilot, do you know what they said? They said – yes, the magic “they” said: It’s impossible to break the sound barrier, it can’t happen. The plane will fall apart. It’s just something that you can’t do. But guess what? Chuck Yeager one day broke the sound barrier. Since then they have built planes that go four times the speed of sound. There’s an Air Force military plane that’s not in service anymore called the Blackbird which was an amazing plane as it could go about 4,000 mph, give or take a few, because somebody believed it could be done.3)President John F. Kennedy: Then there was President John F. Kennedy. Who knows what his legacy would have been if he would have continued to serve out his term and didn’t have the tragedy that happened to him. In a speech that President Kennedy made, he famously said: In this decade we will go to the moon. Yet there was no technology to go to the moon. Many thought it wasn’t possible to land on the moon. But President Kennedy inspired everyone to put their mind to it – and to believe the United States was going to indeed achieve not just going to the moon, but landing on the moon one day. Because of the vision the President had, it happened. President John Kennedy believed the United States could achieve great things – including in the space program. He got an entire nation on his team to believe. Why? Because he conveyed confidence. He said: We can do this. Nobody’s ever done it before but we can do it. And as you already know, the rest is history.

4)Richard Branson: How about Richard Branson? I’m sure you’ve heard his name. Richard Branson is an entrepreneur and a billionaire. He owned a company called Virgin Records, which made him a lot of money but also impacted the music industry. As the story goes, one day he said: I think I’m going to go into the airline business. His advisors told him he was absolutely crazy. You don’t go into the airline business! Only a fool goes into the airline business, why would you risk your money? He said: No, no, no, no – I’m not listening to any of you. Your advice isn’t good advice. I’m going into the airline business. So what did Richard Branson do? He actually picked up the phone, called Boeing and asked: Do you have a 747 I can lease? And that’s how it happened. That’s how Virgin Airlines got started, one of the most successful airlines on the planet, because Richard Branson believed in his business vision.

What happens when you believe in your vision for success? You get things done.

To be more successful in the year ahead, tune out the negativity you encounter daily. Turn a negative situation or thought into a positive situation or thought. You too can be a Roger Bannister, a Chuck Yeager, a President Kennedy, a Richard Branson with your own personal talents and business skills. Be the leader that is just waiting to emerge from inside you.

- Be on your business game every day.

- Be convincing.

- Be dynamic.

- Be inspiring!

- Have the will, drive, and determination to make, whatever it is you want, happen.

- Never, ever, give up!

Then you know what will happen a year from now? You’ll look back and say to yourself: Oh yeah… I really did it!

Then ask yourself: What’s next?

So get out there and be in action! There’s no time to waste when it comes to true business success – and you living the life you truly want.

I want to hear about your success – and any questions you may have on how to achieve more success with your business. Post a comment or call me direct at 888-738-1855.

Business Problems? Business Issues? Contact Howard Lewinter for help today. Run your business with less stress.
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